For most couples with children living in the eastern parts of the nation, if you want to take your family skiing in the Rockies for a "real" ski experience, it means week long trips around Christmas and New Years; or for many, fortunate enough, the week long Winter Break around Presidents Day in February. And for years this was how my family enjoyed our ski vacations. Over the last few years, because of career and school commitments, we haven't been able to always take a week off to go skiing out West. But that doesn't mean we had to give up these fantastic trips. With a slight modification to the guidelines my family uses to plan these vacations, we have been able to enjoy great 3 to 4 night ski trips at the best Western resorts; even as we flew across the country, and my boys did not miss any school. By following these guidelines, even if your family has limited free time, they can still experience the greatest skiing and boarding in the world; but just in a more limited time frame.
Time = Snow
It may seem like a given but the goal is finding ways to minimize the amount of time getting to the slopes so you can maximize your time on them. You should focus your planning efforts on finding the most time saving, yet cost effective way, of getting from your house to the ski lift.
You Want to be Direct
Even though not everyone can, if like the majority of the US population, and you live in the eastern part of the country, then you live within 2 hours of a large airport. During the high demand ski season, all the airlines increase their flights to the western ski states from the larger metropolitan, and regional airports in the east.
The key to enjoying a great ski weekend is to take advantage of these direct flights, and minimize your travel time. Another thing to remember, while more snow is what we want for the ski slopes; it is not what the airlines want. There is a reason their are more flight delays and cancellations during the winter, and the odds of it happening to you increase if you need flight connections. Fortunately the airlines are offering more direct flights than ever to airports near great western ski areas. From small airports serving popular ski resorts, like Eagle County Airport near Vail in Colorado; to the large the large regional airports line Denver and Salt Lake City, there has never been more direct flight options available.
The Right Resort
For many eastern skiers, skiing out west means more than how steep the slopes are or how deep the powder is. For many people who go out west for a week of skiing, many other factors go into their decision on what resort they should go to. Factors such as how family friendly a resort is, difficulty of the terrain, the food and accommodations available, nightlife and vibe of the area are all important in making a great ski vacation. But with a shorter time frame, some of these factors may not be as important as they would on a longer trip. Since we know that to have a great ski weekend out west we need to follow the formula of Time = Snow, an important factor in choosing which ski resort to go to has to be Accessibility. Just as we want to take direct flights to save time, we want our ski destination to be within an hour drive time of the airport. There are some fantastic world class ski resorts, such as Steamboat Springs in Colorado which is a 4 hour drive from Denver; or Whistler/Blackcomb in British Columbia which has fewer direct flights into Vancouver from the eastern US, make them harder access when time is a factor.
The great news is the number of great ski resorts and areas near the major regional airports are excellent and numerous. Within a short driving distance of Salt Lake City International Airport you will have multiple ski options. Only 35 minutes from the airport, Snowbird Resort offers excellent snow on a real value for your money. Less than an hour drive will lead you to the 3 world class resorts in the Park City area: Park City Resort, The Canyons, and Deer Valley Resort, where you can find everything you would want for a ski vacation. Within a 100 mile drive of Denver, we have great skiing at a great price at at the Loveland and Arapahoe Basin ski areas, and and the service and accommodations of a full service resorts of Keystone or Winter Park. Small airports with large numbers of direct flights, like Eagle Airport in Colorado, which directly serves the world class Vail/Beaver Creek resorts is also a great option.
Insure Your Fun
Any family ski vacation is an investment in time and money for any family. We all want to get the most value for our investment, and this is more critical when you are on such a tight schedule. Unfortunately, no matter how well we plan, being winter, Mother Nature can throw a wild card, from severe weather cancelling flights to no snow on the slopes. If you are forced to cancel your trip, recovering your investment from the airlines or the resort may be difficult and limited. You should explore purchasing a low cost travel insurance policy, which will cover some or most of your costs, when those unforeseen events could pop-up and ruin you vacation. Travel insurance can offer you some peace of mind and give you more time to think about the fun you are going to have with your family on the slopes.
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